The present invention relates generally to wireless communication devices, and particularly to wireless communication devices that render audio associated with remotely displayed video signals.
In many situations, the public may view video that is output to a common display. For example, airlines typically show in-flight movies to their passengers. Airports usually have some kind of news or other program playing on televisions throughout their terminals. Likewise, some large cities, such as Tokyo, Japan, display commercial advertisements, news, and weather on oversized display screens in areas where the public is likely to congregate. In each of these examples, the public benefits from being able to view the video output as well as listen to the associated audio over one or more speakers.
However, audible noise is inherently present in public areas. As a result, viewers often have difficulty in actually hearing the audio over the loudspeakers. Further, users viewing the video output typically have little or no control over the availability of the associated audio. Therefore, it would be advantageous for users to be able to view video on a display while permitting them the ability to control the audio using a remote device. Because wireless communication devices permeate the marketplace, they would be ideal devices over which users may listen to and control the audio associated with a particular video.